Powerful Pacific storm targets California

From Wednesday into Thursday, rain has been soaking the Bay Area, but impacts are expected to start shifting south as the weekend approaches.

Transcript

00:00And we're looking at dangerous conditions in California, however, ice is certainly not the problem.

00:04Yeah, we're going to get way too much rain, and there's been wind out there as well, some power outages, some flooding.

00:09So you can see some of these colored different tiles here.

00:13The deep green with the little streaks there, those are flood reports.

00:17California Highway Patrols had their hands full with roadway flooding along California State Route 99 north, another road flooded.

00:24We've had some power lines down. Utility crews have been busy along the 101.

00:29Trees blocking roads, power lines down, and we're beginning to see the wind pick up a little bit farther south this afternoon.

00:35Blowing dust on northbound California Route 99.

00:38Also a 75-acre wildfire in the east, the lee side, the east side of the Sierra that we're tracking as well.

00:46There have been some power outages.

00:47Now, the California ones have been weather-related.

00:50There may be some other influences here in northeast Wyoming and western South Dakota, but a lot of outages there, too.

00:56Still, some counties over 90 percent without power, but again, may not be weather-related.

01:02Let's take a look at the storm impacts.

01:04Storm system kind of split into two waves.

01:07The first wave in progress now.

01:09We've got the southward-moving band of rain that will be reaching southern California through Friday.

01:13Trending drier in the Bay Area by tomorrow, and it's going to be a warm spell there with mainly rain at the passes.

01:19But then we get into huge trouble with drenching, drenching rain in the L.A. basin Friday night through Saturday and Saturday night.

01:26So, again, huge problems there.

01:27The moisture feed is pretty incessant there.

01:30We're going to be dealing with a huge amount of moisture directed right into southern California.

01:34So far, though, an inch and a half of rain in San Francisco over an inch into Sacramento, an inch and a half plus into Ukiah.

01:41But this is going to be moving southward, cold air aloft under the big dip in the jet stream.

01:47And tonight, the rain begins to push south into and through L.A.

01:51Tomorrow, not as much in San Fran, but we're going to see a half inch to an inch just during the day into Los Angeles.

01:56So this map is just through Friday, the close of business more or less, half an inch to an inch to get us started in Los Angeles.

02:02But beyond that, it's going to come down very heavily and more steadily on Saturday.

02:07So Friday, off and on, rain, there's your half inch to an inch during the day.

02:11But then moving forward, we get hit really hard on Saturday, and the rain amounts are going to be tremendous.

02:17So an inch and a half, well, I shouldn't say half inch to an inch, plus two to four more inches over the weekend.

02:23We may end up with close to five inches in some parts of Los Angeles, even more in the mountains.